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The Best And Worst Automakers Of 2018 Revealed

Consumer Reports has released their annual owner feedback survey to determine the best and worst car manufacturers of 2018.

We don’t live in an egalitarian society where all cars are created equal. It’s a little depressing to think about, but some carmakers suck. Maybe they make cars with poor performance, maybe their cars break down all the time, or maybe they just have dealers that are a pain to schedule maintenance with. Whatever the reason, Consumer Reports is here to chronicle their dirty deeds and greatest triumphs.

In their annual Brand Report Card, Consumer Reports ranks nearly every carmaker from best to worst. Their scoring is based on surveys of over 640,000 cars, gathering owner feedback as well as their own personal testing of each manufacturer’s current fleet. Then they give the manufacturer an overall score based on the predicted reliability of the car as well as owner satisfaction with the car.

And lest we forget, "Safety features, such as standard forward-collision warning and automatic emergency braking, are also factored into the score."

One final point, the manufacturer must have at least two current models on offer to be scored. That means Maserati and Smart are both out, as are most of the world’s supercar makers. Not that we’d expect to see particularly high scores from any of them.

Without further adieu, the top five carmakers are Audi, BMW, Lexus, Porsche, and surprise surprise, Hyundai’s luxury brand Genesis. Seeing the three German luxury carmakers on this list is hardly shocking, and neither is see Toyota’s luxury arm Lexus, but Genesis is a bit of a shock.

According to Consumer Reports, Genesis ranked the highest in terms of owner satisfaction out of every other brand out there. They weren’t the best in predicted reliability, where cars were considered to be strictly average, but Genesis owners really love their cars, and that brought them to the top of the list.

At the bottom, we have Mitsubishi, Alfa Romeo, Land Rover, Jeep, and Fiat. Alfa Romeo is, unsurprisingly, ranked worst for predicted reliability. Mitsubishis are fairly reliable but ranked poorly for owner satisfaction. Fiat was worst overall with poor reliability and owner satisfaction.

So if you’re in the market for a luxury sedan, buy a Genesis, and stay away from Alfa Romeos and Land Rovers.